Rocket Mortgage FAQs

About Rocket Mortgage

Rocket Mortgage is an online mortgage experience developed by Quicken Loans, America’s largest mortgage lender.*

Rocket Mortgage isn’t a calculator; it’s a way to get a mortgage. Just tell us about yourself, your home and your finances, and we’ll give you real interest rates and numbers – not just our best guess. Then, you can use Rocket Mortgage to get approved, ask questions about your mortgage, manage your payments and more.

Rocket Mortgage lets you work at your own pace, while providing award-winning customer service and expert advice when you need it. If you don’t have the patience for banks and want a fast, convenient way to see your mortgage options, you should give Rocket Mortgage a try.

Rocket Mortgage is an online mortgage experience developed by Quicken Loans. When you use Rocket Mortgage to get a mortgage, Quicken Loans processes the loan. They determine if you qualify and make sure the loan meets required guidelines.

When you apply with Rocket Mortgage, we give you real numbers – not estimates.

Of course, your numbers can (and likely will) change slightly between the time you apply and the time your loan closes. For example, we may need to change your loan amount after you find a home or after we get the appraisal report.

Protecting your personal information is our top priority. We use bank-level encryption, and we’re constantly monitoring our site to make sure it’s secure. We won’t sell your data or use it for anything other than what’s stated in our Security And Privacy Policy.

How Rocket Mortgage Works

Rocket Mortgage was designed to walk you through the entire mortgage process from application to closing. Our online application asks you a series of questions to evaluate your eligibility for a home loan. Then, we use the information you gave us, and information from your credit report, to provide you with mortgage recommendations and see if we can approve you.

Once you're approved, Rocket Mortgage will provide all the tools you need to get your mortgage to closing. You can use it to communicate with us, send information and documents, and see your loan info and closing details.

Your Rocket Mortgage application will affect your credit score just like filling out an application over the phone or on paper. Your score may change, but not significantly. Checking your credit allows us to show you real mortgage solutions and interest rates – and get you approved.

After you apply with Rocket Mortgage and get approved, Quicken Loans will order an appraisal on your behalf, if it’s required for your loan.

The appraisal you’ll get with Rocket Mortgage is just like the appraisal you’d get when you apply with any other lender. A third-party appraiser will visit the home you’re buying or refinancing to assess the property. From there, they’ll compare your property against similar, recently sold homes in the area to come up with an opinion of value.

To start applying with Rocket Mortgage, we recommend you have the following information on hand:

A separate email address for each person that will be on the loan

Your online banking username and password, or details about how much money is in each account you want us to consider for your approval (e.g., checking and savings accounts, retirement accounts, stocks and other assets)

In most cases, Rocket Mortgage allows you to apply online without talking to anyone. However, there may be some situations in which you’ll need to chat with a Home Loan Expert, either online or by phone, to answer some questions.

Once your application is complete, we may need to call you while we’re working on finalizing your loan. We’ll use phone calls and emails to communicate important information about your appraisal, your closing and more.

You can get approved with a credit score as low as 580, as long as you meet our other eligibility criteria. Keep in mind that the score we use might be slightly different from the one you get from your credit card company or from popular credit reporting companies. Even if you think your score is slightly below 580, you may still be able to qualify.

You can start your application with Rocket Mortgage if you’re self-employed, but you won’t be able to do everything online. We’ll connect you with a Home Loan Expert along the way since we’ll have a few extra questions for you.

Buying A Home With Rocket Mortgage

Yes! If you’re ready to get approved to buy a home, Rocket Mortgage is a great way to understand exactly how much you can afford. Because Rocket Mortgage considers your credit score and financial information in determining how much you can afford, it’ll give you more accurate numbers than a calculator would.

How much you need depends on the type of loan and the purchase price of the home. In general, you’ll want to have at least 3% of the home’s purchase price for a down payment. You’ll also want to have between 2% and 5% of the purchase price for closing costs – even for no-down-payment loans, such as VA loans.

Rocket Mortgage recommends loans you may be eligible for based on the information you provide. When you use Rocket Mortgage to apply, you may see mortgage recommendations for conventional loans, FHA loans, VA loans or jumbo loans.

Yes! You can apply to buy a condo with Rocket Mortgage. However, since buying a condo can be a bit more complicated than buying another property type, we’ll need to connect you with a Home Loan Expert along the way.

When you refinance with Rocket Mortgage, you can get a loan to take cash out, lower your payment, shorten your term, or even do a combination of those depending on your numbers.

Rocket Mortgage recommends loans you may be eligible for based on the information you provide. When you use Rocket Mortgage to apply, you may see mortgage recommendations for conventional loans, FHA loans (including FHA Streamlines), VA loans (including Interest Rate Reduction Refinance loans) and jumbo loans.

No. Quicken Loans doesn’t currently offer HELOCs, so they’re not available through Rocket Mortgage. But you can use Rocket Mortgage to get a cash-out refinance, which gives you money you can put toward the same things as a HELOC, like paying down debt.

Yes! You can use Rocket Mortgage to refinance a condo. However, since refinancing a condo can be a bit more complicated than refinancing another property type, we’ll need to connect you with a Home Loan Expert along the way.

There are a lot of factors that go into determining how much your loan costs. Things like the size and type of the loan, your credit score, and interest rates all play a role in determining how much you’ll pay to borrow the money.

The best way to figure out the cost of the loan is to apply and get a Loan Estimate. The Loan Estimate is a standard, government-required document that breaks down all the costs of your loan.

Applying with Rocket Mortgage is free! There’s no cost to see your mortgage recommendations or get approved. However, if you decide to move forward with your loan, there are costs involved – just like with any other lender.

The company behind Rocket Mortgage is Quicken Loans, an online lender. Because we’re online, we don’t have offices that are open to the public. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real people waiting to help you, though! Check out our Talk To Us page to find out how to get in touch.

Quicken Loans, Rocket Homes, Rocket Loans and Rocket HQ are separate operating subsidiaries of Rock Holdings Inc. Each company is a separate legal entity operated and managed through its own management and governance structure as required by its state of incorporation, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.